There is no such thing as dropping an anime forever. When I use the term ‘dropped’ that does not mean that’s the last I’ll see of that anime in my life. Dropping a show means that I don’t have the enthusiasm to watch this show currently and at a later date I’ll return to that anime. This later date may be the time when trapped in an all-male brothel with nothing other than a portable dvd player and a ‘Lucky Star’ boxset, but I will one day return and give the anime another shot. With this in mind, combined with the fact that I’m only 4 series away from ‘dropping’ 100 anime, according to my MAL account, I’ve decided that I’m going to take a look back at all those series I’ve dropped, recognise why I dropped them and evaluate when I should give them another go.
Guin Saga
Dropped After: 23 episodes
Why I dropped it: I liked Guin Saga at the start. Heck, I liked it a lot. The Nospherus arc, lasting something like 10 episodes, was fantastic and finished up with that scene of Guin leading an army of macho giants in loincloths against the forces of Mongol. That scene alone was worth watching this series for. But then it turned to absolute shit. Looking back at my monthly roundups, there’s a great one in August where I whine that Guin Saga hadn’t produced a good episode from the last 8. Aldo Naris and a lack of Guin were largely to blame, but the main reason was the total failure of the romance in the series. Considering that was the main focus in the second half of the season, it really fell down quite shockingly. In the end I just couldn’t bring myself to care anymore, especially when I knew we were going to get no Guin questions answered before the end. Plus the fansubs slowed to a crawl.
Rebirth Chances: Below Average. There is only 3 episodes left and that shouldn’t be hard to get through but I just don’t feel watching them would really bring me any worth. I really do not want to sit through more hopelessly done romance and that incomprehensible personality swap by Remus still pisses me off. Maybe if someone promised me that the series finished of with Guin dropping a Giant Anvil on Aldo Naris’ head, then I’d be tempted.
Gungrave
Dropped After: 1 episodes
Why I dropped it: I borrowed the first 4 episodes from the library a while back and was actually very excited about the prospect of watching this. Serious action show by Madhouse with their top-tier staff working on it sounds right up my alley. But oh god was that first episode bad. First of all, I watched the dub and it had been a while since I’d heard voice acting that lifeless, but it certainly wasn’t helped by the godawful dialogue. I was actually cringing in my seat at how bad it was. I figured I’d watch the next episode subbed and hope it got better but I never got around to it in the end.
Rebirth Chances: High. It’s cases like these that I can’t help thinking that it’s pointless to put it in these posts. I have all the intentions in the world to pick this up again so assessing why I dropped it is kind of pointless. There’s a few anime that I’m going to be skipping for that very reason. Phantom (dropped because Funimation suddenly decided they only wanted to stream it to North America), Gunslinger Girl (dropped because I went abroad for 3 weeks after I watched the first episode and forgot about it) and Legend of the Galactic Heroes (moved house while I was watching it). Life gets in the way of anime watching quite frequently and sometimes you have to put a show aside. Gungrave is slightly different because, unlike the rest of the anime I mentioned, it;s first episode was genuinely awful. Please tell me it gets better.
Hayate the Combat Butler
Dropped After: 12 episodes
Why I dropped it: Hayate really looked like the type of anime I should like. Maybe not love, but it had that same ring to it that the likes of Kannagi had. One of those surprisingly witty and cutting comedy anime under the guise of moeblob. So what made me drop it? Well, it just wasn’t really that funny. It was all right I guess and some of the scenes definitely made me laugh a lot, but on the whole a lot of the jokes brought no smile to my face. As a 12 episode series, I probably would have enjoyed it but the idea of watching that for 52 episodes + 26 episode sequel did not sound appealing.
Rebirth Chances: Average. On one hand, I feel I’ve seen enough of the show to know full well exactly what it’s about and how the rest of the show will pan out, and therefore know whether I would enjoy that or not. On the other hand, it’s not like I really disliked the show. Like Excel Saga, maybe I just dropped the thing because of a poor run of episodes (I distinctly remember a totally unfunny one about being in a game with a demon with bouncy breasts controlling it or something along those lines). My memory gets blurred when I’ve watched this bloody much.
He is my Master
Dropped After: 2 episodes
Why I dropped it: I think this might have been the very last anime I watched in my quest to find a seinen romance that could recapture the appeal of Chobits and Love Hina. He is my Master is a piece of crap that had no redeeming factors. A perverted Alligator that tears off the clothes of teenage girls forced to dress as hawt maids is far less funny then it’s description suggests it should be. After this I gave up searching for that elusive seinen romance series, probably for the better.
Rebirth Chances: Very low. Is there a Gainax end?
Juuni Kokuki
Dropped After: 11(?) episodes
Why I dropped it: Green Green TV was the first anime I dropped, but that was because I felt that if I was going to watch porn I might as well actually watch porn. Juuni Kokuki (or 12 Kingdoms, actually I should really stick to the non-weeaboo version. It’s just called Juuni Kokuki on MAL) was the first anime I dropped for being bad. Because oh boy was this ever a lesson in how to alienate your viewer. Toss out a bizzilion names for you to remember, give each of these characters 4 different alias’, just for the hell of it, and have a plot that jumps around in the most incoherant fashion possible is the perfect formula for induced frustration followed by boredom. This might have been a good story in book form. Pierrot did a miserable job adapting it.
Rebirth Chances: Below average. I watched this quite a long time ago, at least, it is proportional to my minimalistic time I’ve been watching anime, so maybe a totally fresh approach to the series might help me in that regard. But I really did not like this series. What’s worse, I heard the first arc is meant to be the best part of the series. I’m not entirely sure how far I got but I definitely finished the first arc and oh boy was it crap.
::Note:: When voting in the poll, please try to keep in mind what I said about each anime and don’t just vote for your favourites. If I say ‘man I hated that character and that’s why I dropped it’, don’t vote for it if that character takes a lead role in the rest of the series.
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22 Comments
First Excel Saga, NOW HAYATE?!?!
/unsubscribed
Just don’t watch Hayate! all at once. Maybe an episode here or there. The show’s good if you like humor that makes fun of, well, everything. And I like the characters a lot, myself.
He is My Master. Oh jeez. I remember when that was big, and all the girls kept waxing about how amazing it was.
Me, I poked it with a six foot pole, and when I’ve seen reviews done by people I usually agree with, they say it’s crap.
I dunno. For maids, they sure look ugly in their official art.
I recommend picking Hayate back up, but to be honest, I’d say you might as well skip season 1 and go straight to season 2. There’s only a handful of episodes in season 1 I’d consider “must watch.” Otherwise, it’s a bunch of filler and you won’t miss much.
Yeah Gungrave has an awful first episode. It is so bad that most people who like Gungrave advise skipping it. You shouldn’t skip it but it is quite bad. The next 12 episodes however are an awesome mafia tale with a little of the supernatural. Then we revisit the first episode and get about 10 episodes of generic action stuff until a very good finale.
So give it a go. It is worth it for the mafia story.
Gungrave’s the only one I can suggest. The first episode was kind of unimpressive, but it got better. Pretty decent crime series.
Hayate fell flat for me too. Tried a few episode, got a couple of laughs, but nothing all that special.
Guin Saga and 12 Kingdoms are both sprawling fantasy epics that seem to take forever to get anywhere. They’re the sort of thing that turns me off of the fantasy genre in general, whether it’s movies, novels, or anime. The only straight-up fantasy anime I can think of that I enjoy is Lodoss War. It’s short, sticks to a small party of characters, and avoids a lot of the aimless wandering you see in most fantasy. If you haven’t seen Lodoss War yet I’d recommend the original OAV.
@Jesus159159159
@mefloraine
I don’t think that was the problem. It was that the jokes weren’t that funny. I rarely attempt to marathon anything anyway
@Janette
I’ve seen people who think He is my Master is a great, heartwarming and genuinely funny anime before. Now I know everyone has their own tastes and go my biased views go blady blah but these people have no taste in anime whatsoever
@RP
I’ve also heard people who complain that Hayate stops being a proper comedy series and becomes a drama that doesn’t suit the show as a whole so forgive me if I take your opinion with a pinch of salt. ‘Filler’ in a comedy doesn’t really compute
@lesterf1020
Sounds like an honest assessment of the show. Mind you, if Gungrave does manage to turn itself around to become the great mafia story many people claim it is then it’s probably going to be the greatest turnaround from the first episode I’ve ever seen
@Landon
I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed a sprawling fantasy anime. You would think that since Kamiyamas other two anime, Eden and GITS, are in my top 30 that I would’ve enjoyed Moribito but even that anime is going to show up in these ‘No anime is dropped forever’ posts. The only fantasy anime I’ve liked was Claymore, and that’s of the violent bloody demon variety than the sprawling fantasy version. Oh, and Spice and Wolf but yeah, that hardly counts as a fantasy.
For some reason I thought Lodoss War was one of those epicly terrible anime but a quick check on MAL denies that. Is there a terrible anime with a similar name or something?
I really wanted to watch Gungrave. I’ll get around to it eventually.
Why would you watch it dubbed? There are very few shows that I actually like dubbed (InuYasha, Dragonball Z, Cowboy Bebop). If I realize that the dubs suck after about 5 minutes, I’ll refuse to finish watching it until I find it subbed.
Gungrave has possibly the worst first episode of any anime ever and Twelve Kingdoms has a tiring first arc that ends up cheating the viewer out of a climax. Both are two of my favorite series. As soon as the second episode rolls around, Gungrave becomes an incredibly emotionally charged tale of friendship and betrayal with the greatest ending I’ve ever seen next to Gunbuster. As for Twelve Kingdoms, the third arc is absolutely astounding in its scope and detail. It defines “epic” for me when it comes to anime. It would easily put LOGH to shame if the show wasn’t cut short by Studio Pierrot.
Lodoss War (the OVA) is a nice piece of straightforward DnD fantasy, but it’s very dated nowadays. The animation doesn’t hold up well at all, and the story wasn’t anything to go crazy about it in the first place.
The Lodoss TV series borders on the same lameness that a lot of fantasy falls into, so that might be what you’re thinking of. I enjoyed the TV series when I first saw it, but that was over 10 years ago, so it could very well suck. I say stick with the OAV and only bother with the TV series if you end up loving the OAV.
There are plenty of funny episodes in Hayate’s first season, but there are also a couple of stretches that are just mind-numbingly dull. I prefer the second season because it’s shorter and more focused, but I also didn’t mind the romance, even if it isn’t great or anything.
I would strongly encourage you to check out the 12 Kingdoms novels instead of the anime. I found the anime to be a fairly lifeless adaptation of the novels, which themselves were extremely good. They also have benefited from a top notch translation from the folks at Tokyo Pop.
If you liked what you’ve seen so far of Hayate then I’d recommend finishing the first season. I can’t comment on the second one though, I haven’t watched it yet. Not that I disliked Hayate, I just had a bit of series fatigue after watching the entire first season in a fairly short amount of time.
Time to stand up for the underdog again…
I have to note that on 12Kingdoms (cause 12K is so much easier to use), it’s a show that really spikes out from its philosophical and sociological intrigue than anything else. So if tickling morality isn’t your thing, chances are no amount of selling will make you like it.
At the same time you mention all the names and stuff? Well… watching that series is kinda akin to reading Chinese mythology (because it really is). Sometimes I wonder if that series was ever suppose to have a chance with western audiences.
Also, the show is actually better than the novels thanks to Asano-kun.
12Kingdom Rebellion Arc is a lot better than the Beginning Arc
but it still sprawling fantasy
i like he is my master
its comedy not romance
you should watch as comedy
very funny
@Glo
Because it was on dvd and I always watch the dub on dvds. Obviously I’ll switch when the dub sucks but not before I at least finish the episode. And there are some mighty fine dubs out there, the best of all being Hellsing
@Cheesyhoboe
That’s more than enough people saying the first episode of Gunbuster was terrible and I’ve been pretty much convinced to give it another shot, but your 12 Kingdoms review isn’t doing much for my enthusiasm. I definitely got into the second arc and I remember it starting off even worse than the first and the prospect of sitting through that to get the the final third arc that wasn’t even completed by Pierrot doesn’t fill me with anticipation to say the least.
@A Day Without Me
Anime has ruined books for me. Even my old favourite authors I find myself incapable of finishing the book, even when I know it’s a damn fine book. But I’ll keep that endorsement in mind for when I finally get over this phase
@ExecutiveOtaku
The thing is I didn’t like what I’d seen of Hayate so far. It didn’t exactly fall flat but it just stumbled around, producing only mildy funny jokes every now and then
@Aorii
I know most of my top 30 are actiony entertaining stuff but there are quite a few ‘tickling morality’ shows such as Kino’s Journey, GITS and heck, even Death Note has quite a bit of that.…but I’m strugling to think of any ‘sociological intrigue’ in what I saw in 12K. I was too busy trying to remember all the names.
@Scamp: I’m not saying that you’re definitely not interesting in the morality perspective, it just can’t be the focus of things given the clear start and moderately-fast pacing your top ratings usually requires :p.
That’s all cause you stopped in the first arc, which is mostly about personal chardev and becoming a ‘master of oneself’. Arc 2 is about social attitudes and escapism. Arc 3 is about taking control of both oneself and society. Arc 4 is about the vices of unmoderated attitudes.
Terminology in 12K is heavily patched if one actually know eastern mythology & folklore (which I had to apply a lot of parallels when watching). Unfortunately, this hurts you as much as it would hurt a Japanese watching something that draws heavily from say, Norse mythology (and not just the basic terms). But as for the umpteen names… think European Aristocracy — those lords and lieges also had about one billion titles each, its use dependent on the situation. Very much the same case here. What can I say — our ancestors loved complexity, it made them feel fancy.
@Scamp
It depends what you’re looking for I guess. Although “drama” is a bit of a stretch IMO (it does seem to be getting quite dramatic in the manga, but the anime never really comes close to that).
If you’re looking for a random gag comedy with meta references coming out the wang then S1 will be your thing. If you want a more cohesive comedy with a loose romcom plot that focuses on developing its characters then S2 is hands down better.
Don’t get me wrong, I liked S1, but 52 episodes of inanity is a lot to put up with. Too much for me.
Ah, also, “filler” in a random gag comedy like Cromartie High School or Lucky Star may not compute. But “filler” in a plot-driven situational comedy like Nodame or Raligun, for example, absolutely does.
So I only haven’t seen Gungrave from that list (save the 1st ep), but I am saving it for later too. Of the others, 12 Kingdoms has major flaws, but is the only one that separates itself from the din of animedom. To maximize enjoyment of the show and minimize frustration, I recommend thusly:
1) Arm yourself with good liner notes. I used Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_terms_in_The_Twelve_Kingdoms
2) Finish the 1st arc (1−13) and watch the 3rd (23−39). The Rebellion Arc is far and away the one to watch, and doesn’t leave you hanging with loose threads or unfinished plotlines like the 2nd and 4th arcs do.
3) If you thirst for more 12 Kingdoms, find the novels.
Re: Skipping parts of the story for the ‘good parts’
I’m very wary about doing this. You might think when you’ve finished watching that you know what parts to watch and what not to watch, but those lesser episodes are often vital in order to understand the later episodes. For example, you would think you could watch Fumoffu without the original FMP but I did and only got two episodes through before I gave up. Then when I watched FMP first, I went to Fumoffu and loved it.
Then again, there are anime where it is widely agreed that you can and should skip certain parts, such as the Naruto fillers, but that’s a very rare case. There’s also different opinions on what someone wants from the anime. Just because I think I would’ve enjoyed Clannad After Story more without those first eight episodes, others couldn’t imagine leaving them out.
(I sorta confused myself typing that out but I think you can get what I’m saying)
@Aorii
I can watch slow paced anime
it’s been a while since I saw it but I think the real problem was terminology. All those morality things sounds like something I’d really like but it’s no good if I don’t know what’s going on
@RP
Like I said earlier, skipping the gag parts means I won’t get to know the characters before the plot-driven part begins. It’s basically the opposite way round to FMP.
I know that you’ve finished these No Anime is Dropped Forever posts, but if you ever get the feeling, you should finish Guin Saga. The romance parts disappear, but the annoying parts with Lady Amnelis continues. The last episode ends very fittingly, but I guess the decision is yours.